Wolfsburg huffed and puffed but it was Everton who blew them away at Goodison Park last night.

In the fourth and final Premier League versus Bundesliga European clashes this week, the Blues finally did the business for England.

Champions League action had seen Arsenal and Manchester City both lose in Germany to Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively while struggling Schalke celebrated their draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with glee.

Others have sometimes treated UEFA’s secondary competition with a fair degree of contempt – including the likes of Hull City this season who failed to make the group stages after getting in via the back door after losing the FA Cup final to Arsenal in May – but as Roberto Martinez declared this week, the Blues need to become European regulars in order for the club to develop and such adventures must be regarded as par for the course rather than inconvenient distractions.

Martinez made a strong statement of intent for how seriously he is taking this season’s Europa League campaign by naming an unchanged starting line-up from the side that secured Everton’s first victory of the season 2-0 at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Everton have never lost in European competition to a German team and two goals in as many minutes either side of the interval ensured Wolfsburg went the same way as Borussia Moenchengladbach, Bayern Munich and Nurnburg in this battle between the two fifth-placed clubs of the Premier League and Bundesliga last season.

Wolfsburg went close after just two minutes when Belgian international Kevin De Bruyne formerly of Chelsea picked out Ivica Olic but the veteran Croatian striker fired over the bar.

The Blues took the lead on 15 minutes with a slick move that was far better than the messy own goal it climaxed with.

A neat interchange of passes between Steven Naismith, James McCarthy and Leighton Baines resulted in Naismith poking a shot at goal which was initially cleared by Ricardo Rodriguez only for the left-back to hit his fellow Swiss international and goalkeeper Diego Benaglio on the back of the head and the ball rebounded back into the net via another desperate lunge from Rodriguez.

Lukaku came close to doubling the Blues’ advantage five minutes before the break when after winning the free-kick himself, the £28million striker forced Benaglio across his goal to make a save at full-stretch with a curling 25-yard left-foot effort.

The second goal did arrive in first half stoppage time as Lukaku escaped down the left and picked out Mirallas whose shot could only be beaten down by Benaglio and Baines cleverly lofted the ball back in to the back post for Seamus Coleman to head in.

Just seconds after the restart, Wolfsburg were in more trouble as Robin Knoche struggled to control a loose pass and bundled Aiden McGeady to the ground.

The initial contact appeared to be outside the area but by the time the Irish international was felled he was inside and Italian referee Luca Banti pointed to the spot.

Baines, who was enjoying an impressive evening, converted coolly from 12 yards as ever, shooting low to Benaglio’s left with the goalkeeper going the wrong way.

With the three points safely in the bag and the visit of Crystal Palace looming on Sunday ahead of four consecutive away games at Swansea, Liverpool, Krasnodar and Manchester United, Martinez was able to give Lukaku a breather over 20 minutes from the end as the fit-again Samuel Eto’o entered the action.

Everton put the gloss on their victory with a delightful fourth goal in the 89th minute as Eto’o showed he can make as well as take chances with an inch-perfect through ball that the Belgian slotted home calmly for his third of the season.

In stoppage time a wicked 25-yard free-kick from Rodriguez denied the Blues a clean sheet.